Robert Engel
06-16-2020, 9:49 AM
My first real attempt at working with a large piece of burl veneer was a bit of a challenge.
The wood is salvaged from the wood that made the top of a table my brother had. The rest of the table was made of bamboo. It was purchased in CA. I thought it was a mahogany, but I think it is some type of SE asian wood. I've seen similar wood in furniture made in Viet Nam.
The veneer is Pelin burl, I believe. It was part of a lot of veneer I bought at a garage sale, which also included 6 beautiful, large sheets of crotch mahogany.
Which brings up the point that this was intended as a prototype for another table using the crotch mahogany.
Despite the fact I really took time with veneer softener, etc & the veneer looked really good, 2 cracks developed (big one lower right corner). The bookmatch seam separated every so slightly (not nearly as obvious as photo). I'm guessing because I used standard veneer glue there was some shrinkage? I will use hide glue on the mahogany table.
My second disappointment was that I did not pay enough attention to prepping the top before finishing. It is a bit wavy and I'm ashamed to say on one side you can even see some planer marks.
The banding was an afterthought. Routing the groove for the curved top was also a challenge, which I addressed by making a jig with a couple bearings to follow the front.
On the next one I will rabbet the edges for the banding before gluing the solid wood on.
The bow front was made using the blocking technique and a single 1/8" thick veneer was applied. My first time doing this & I am sold. It saves on lumber and for me is easier than laminations.
The next challenge was tapering the legs, as they are not square.
I used a dye stain on the veneer, followed by a couple coats of shellac, and 3 coats of Enduro gloss.
So that's what I learned. Its acceptable enough to stick in the corner of our guest room.
435133435134435135435136
The wood is salvaged from the wood that made the top of a table my brother had. The rest of the table was made of bamboo. It was purchased in CA. I thought it was a mahogany, but I think it is some type of SE asian wood. I've seen similar wood in furniture made in Viet Nam.
The veneer is Pelin burl, I believe. It was part of a lot of veneer I bought at a garage sale, which also included 6 beautiful, large sheets of crotch mahogany.
Which brings up the point that this was intended as a prototype for another table using the crotch mahogany.
Despite the fact I really took time with veneer softener, etc & the veneer looked really good, 2 cracks developed (big one lower right corner). The bookmatch seam separated every so slightly (not nearly as obvious as photo). I'm guessing because I used standard veneer glue there was some shrinkage? I will use hide glue on the mahogany table.
My second disappointment was that I did not pay enough attention to prepping the top before finishing. It is a bit wavy and I'm ashamed to say on one side you can even see some planer marks.
The banding was an afterthought. Routing the groove for the curved top was also a challenge, which I addressed by making a jig with a couple bearings to follow the front.
On the next one I will rabbet the edges for the banding before gluing the solid wood on.
The bow front was made using the blocking technique and a single 1/8" thick veneer was applied. My first time doing this & I am sold. It saves on lumber and for me is easier than laminations.
The next challenge was tapering the legs, as they are not square.
I used a dye stain on the veneer, followed by a couple coats of shellac, and 3 coats of Enduro gloss.
So that's what I learned. Its acceptable enough to stick in the corner of our guest room.
435133435134435135435136